Homemade Christmas Decorations
by hummerhouse
Summary: Written for the 12 Days of Christmas 2019 event on DeviantArt. December 24th prompt - Homemade Decorations. One shot, TMNT 2003


Homemade Christmas Decorations

Throughout the years many things had been lost to them. They had been forced from not one, but two homes. Almost all of their possessions had been destroyed by either killer robot mouse hunters or the Foot clan.

Those possessions might have been scrounged from garbage bins and junk yards, but they still held meaning because they represented memories. Precious memories.

Christmas was especially meaningful because Master Splinter had made that holiday about family. Whatever it might represent to the humans, to the small mutant clan it was a celebration of their perseverance, of their dedication to each other.

Among the objects listed as 'found' items were Christmas ornaments and lights. It had amazed Splinter as to the sheer amount of those things humans tossed into the garbage after the holiday was over.

Most were not even damaged, or damaged only to a small extent. Like the tiny train engine that was missing a wheel. The wheel was in the same garbage bag and little Donatello was exuberant over the opportunity to repair the ornament.

For Splinter though, the most prized of Christmas decorations were those created by his sons. Each of the four boys labored in making an ornament to hang on their tree, one ornament for every year they were together.

Their trees had grown with them. It wasn't difficult to sneak onto a lot and abscond with a tree, the difficulty came in transporting said tree. Fortunately, most tree lots carried not only full sized trees, but also the tops of trees. In New York City this was especially prevalent because there were so many apartment dwellers.

When Splinter had to perform this task by himself, he had consider distance from the lair, how hard it was going to be carrying a tree, and how long he would have to leave his sons alone. Those first few trees were rather small and sparse, but it didn't matter to the turtles. They looked upon the green living thing, smelling of spruce and fresh air, with awe.

Once they were old enough to help, the family could be pickier about the tree. Though Splinter still favored the small ones, the growing collection of homemade ornaments eventually made that impractical.

Each of his sons insisted on placing every ornament they had ever made on their tree. When the size of the tree did not correspond to the sheer number of ornaments, it was time to go bigger. For Splinter, tree decorating was not fun when his sons were pushing each other and fighting for a spot on the tree.

When the rampaging mousers had torn up their first home, chomping through the support beams and bringing part of their ceiling down, Splinter had lamented the loss. Most especially that of their Christmas box. He was thrilled to learn that it was one of the few things to survive the catastrophe.

In their second home, Splinter had turned over the task of tree shopping to their human friends April O'Neil and Casey Jones. It seemed to give them pleasure and it meant that the mutant family didn't have to wait until close of business Christmas Eve to acquire their tree. Splinter did not like to steal and in the past had taken only what was on a pile to be discarded. Money found in the sewers meant that he could pay and he insisted on doing so.

Surprisingly, it was Casey who found the best deals and the best trees. April had confided to Splinter that he had a knack for picking trees, finding the freshest and nicest shapes. Casey Jones also had a gift for wheeling and dealing, which meant he never paid full asking price for a tree.

The loss of their second home was more harrowing than the first. They were hunted and for a time, Splinter had no idea as to the fate of two of his sons and believed his eldest to be in Japan. Having Leonardo return to them and bring their family together again had been joyous and a reason to celebrate the first Christmas in their third home.

As it turned out, the ornaments had again survived a catastrophe. Donatello had separated the ornaments into small plastic boxes and then had placed those into a larger metal receptacle. He and Raphael had dug that metal container out from under a pile of debris, risking being caught by the Foot, in order to bring their ornaments home.

Splinter sat in his favorite chair, a cup of tea on a stand next to him. It was evening and the family had dined in the company of April and Casey. The tree was up, the box of ornaments open.

They all participated in stringing the lights on the tree and Casey had placed the star on its top. He and April were given the box of found decorations to put on the tree, and the turtles each had boxes containing their own homemade ornaments.

Sipping his tea, Splinter sighed with satisfaction. The sounds of laughter and good-natured bickering filled him with happiness.

Each time his eyes would light upon an ornament being placed on the tree by one of his sons, a memory would flood his mind.

Michelangelo, covered in more orange glitter than he'd managed to get on the various paper crafts he'd made. Donatello, using one of Splinter's best metal teapots to create a small turtle, complete with shell and bo staff.

Raphael, who had snuck above ground to use a photo machine so that he could glue a picture of himself onto a homemade paper flower. Leonardo, who had hidden inside a cupboard so that no one would know that he was making angels out of pipe cleaners.

Yes, Christmas was about family. It was also about the memories that came with having one.

Christmas was about the homemade ornaments created by happy, healthy children.

As far as Splinter was concerned, that was the best thing about Christmas.


End file.
